Hi all. Posted this in the wrong forum before so let's try this again.
I am currently 26 years old, married, and just about to finish up with my BA in History in December of this year. I am very interested in joining the Reserve as a means of giving back to my country and also the the career paths that it could open up for me since I am hoping to pursue a graduate degree in Environmental Science.
I do have some issues that I would hope some of you could shed some light on.
*With my graduating in December would this make me eligible to seek enlistment as an officer?
*What are the chances of relocation, as I currently own a house?
Thanks to everyone who answers. I appreciate the consideration.
Yes. With a bachelors degree, you would be eligible to put in a package for OCS. Go to the Coast Guard recruiting site (www.gocoastguard.com). On the lower left, click on Officer Forms and Deadlines. There, you will find a pdf file that is your OCS check off sheet. It will list all of the forms that you will need for your OCS package. Most of those forms are available in pdf format on that same page. If you scroll down the page, you will see when the package is due to your local recruiting office.
One question that comes to mind is, what part of the country do you live in? This would effect whether or not you live close enough to a drilling reserve unit. Reserves do not have to relocate, although they could be called up on active duty. They also sometimes have opportunities to volunteer for extended active duty.
Your best bet is to find your local recruiting office and have them help you along in the process.
I am currently in the Ft. Benning area near Columbus, GA/Phenix City AL. After calling the USCG number I was put in touch with the recruiting office in Montgomery and I am currently waiting to hear back from them today.
Just so you understand, you may have to drill across the country as an "O" depending on where the billet is, and it will switch up every few years. Be ready for that.
As BTDT said, the benefit of drilling as an enlisted person is that they will make every attempt to place you with in a reasonable commuting distance from your current address. There is no such promise as an officer. I know of a CWO that travels from Virginia to Oklahoma once a month.
I know a Senior Chief who flies from Seattle to Milwaukee to drill. I knew a CWO who flew from NYC to FLA and another one who flew from Chicago to Alameda.
Junior Officers aren't inconvenienced anywhere near as much as the Senior ones, but I do know a number of JO's who have a pretty hefty commute to drill.
Maybe the better way to sum it up is junior Coasties in the reserves, are placed in billets within an RCD much more so than those who have choosen to take a significant increase in mothly pay (currently and for the rest of their retired life) are.
JOs and Petty Officers are more often than not allowed to be in RCD. Senior Enlisted (including those that then choose to hop over the fence to the dark side) and Senior Officers may have to extend their commute. That seems fairly reasonable as you can easily complete a career and become retirement eligible without having to attain Senior Enlised or Senior Officer status. Therefore, getting into those paygrades, comes with an upfront cost, but serious long term benifits.
If I can ever get in touch with the recruiter in Montgomery I will hopefully have a more fleshed out game plan. Right now I have only been able to leave messages. Hopefully I will hear back from them next week sometime.
Thanks for the advice guys. Definitely some stuff to think on.
Well, the recruiter got me set up to take my ASVAB and MEPS in two weeks. He did not have a whole lot to tell me about the Reserves as he said they have never got anyone in for that at his office.
He said that he was contacting the office in Mobile for more Reserve info since he could not even give me a solid pay scale or any idea whether it would be better to go into it as enlisted or shoot for SRDC and such. Hoping to hear more next week.
